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Report 682
Report #682 Skillset: Paradigmatics Skill: Butterfly Org: Illuminati Status: Completed Nov 2011 Furies' Decision: We will look into implementing solution 1. Problem: Butterfly is too unpredictable to be used in its current state. The effects simply do not justify a 10 power cost, and some of the more potent effects are too good to have at a lower cost. This puts us in a bit of a bind as, thematically, it's supposed to be chaotic and unpredictable. 0 R: 0 Solution #1: Change butterfly to A] have a variable cost based on the effect it gives and to B] only take away power once the effect occurs, not on casting. If the caster doesn't have sufficent power to pay for the effect, it uses all remaining power and does nothing. Suggested power costs are listed in comments. The current chances for backfiring/double procs remain untouched. 0 R: 0 Solution #2: As solution 1, but instead it costs all remaining on casting and returns the "unused" power (if any) once the effect manifests. This may be easier to code, but would change the balance somewhat. 0 R: 0 Solution #3: As solutions 1 or 2, but slightly more interesting. Instead of having a fixed chance to backfire on the caster, it backfires if and only if the caster doesn't have enough power to pay for the randomly chosen effects. Player Comments: ---on 10/7 @ 02:24 writes: Proposed power costs are as follows: maggoting 10p, trueheal target 10p, spider attack 2p, break limbs 3p, boulder 3p, fists 7p, displacement 5p, pit 5p, astrology sphere 3p, diseases 2p, weed cloud 1p, beer rain 1p. ---on 10/7 @ 08:48 writes: Any of these solutions sound fine, though perhaps a short-ish cool down should be introduced as well, so that you don't spam it trying to get a better effect after not burning all your power. I understand that wouldn't really be a good draw on your time, but hey, it does go through shields, yes? ---on 10/7 @ 22:57 writes: As long as maggoting and pit have sufficiently high costs this works for me. I fear that the solutions still won't make the skill useable though. The fundamental problem is that both warriors and guardians are very power reliant and this skill is a power skill that is not reliable, even if you lower the cost an illuminati/templar is going to have plans for that power and that balance that will pretty much always outweigh the possible benefit of butterfly. I don't have a ready solution for this though as this is just a conflict between the flavor of the guild and lusternian combat mechanics. ---on 10/7 @ 23:18 writes: At least in my experience, Illuminati power usage is a reverse bell curve. At the start of the fight, when we're dropping whispers, badluck and possibly madfly, we burn through power like a fiend. The middle of the fight (when we're just building insanity/soulless rubs) is typically rather power light, but then ramps back up once we've got the point where we need to get a lock in place for the illuminate/soulless fling. That middle bit is the perfect time to try for a butterfly under blackout. Astrology would a somewhat different use, where you shift a bunch of butterflies at the target just as the (power cost 0) meteor's about to strike and hope for something that will either enhance the meteor damage (maggot, sphere, boulder or fists) or keep them from running (spider attack, break limbs, pit, and occasionally diseases) I'll leave off commenting about the secifics of templar power tempos, but I'm fairly confident that they'd get at least some use out of it. ---on 10/8 @ 09:35 writes: Doesn't the butterfly construct allow a power-free cast of butterfly for every Gaudi citizen? How would that interact with the solutions proposed? ---on 10/8 @ 20:04 writes: Shouldn't affect it at all, since the butterfly will be the same ---on 10/10 @ 07:39 writes: For Sol. 1, the butterfly doesn't drain power when the effect goes off. For Sol. 2, it doesn't cost power on casting and doesn't refund any power since you didn't actually spend any. For Sol. 3, it checks to see if you have enough to cast it without the construct butterfly, then fires/backfires as appropriate, then skips the power draining step. All pretty straightforward, I think. ---on 10/25 @ 07:23 writes: I believe illuminati rp is based on chance and taking chances, If you were able to set some control or limit to all your abilities wouldn't that kill the whole value behind your rp. It's like rolling a dice for 10p and you either win or you lose. I'm for solution 1 but nothing lower than 2-3p for a trans ability ---on 10/27 @ 00:14 writes: How about butterfly costing 5 power to raise a butterfly that you can use a later point (like the free butterfly your construct provides), and then having a straight 5 power cost to activate it in combat? ---on 10/30 @ 23:38 writes: @Ushaara: That would allow you to cast one butterfly for 5p and have no more butterflies until you spend 10p and two balances to prepare and use another. That's no better than it is now. ---on 11/15 @ 22:49 writes: I'd reluctantly support solution 1 ---on 11/21 @ 21:32 writes: Solution 1